BANGOR, Maine — Republican Sen. Susan Collins believes that Graham Platner, her likely Democratic challenger in November’s midterm elections, is too extreme for voters in her New England state.

But Platner, pushing an economically populist agenda as he takes aim at corporate influences and advocates for the working class, argues it is moderate Collins who is the “radical” one.

With the support of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Ro Khanna of California, Platner is aiming to unseat the longtime Republican senator in left-leaning Maine.

The race is among a handful that could determine if the GOP holds onto its slim Senate majority in the midterm elections, and the oyster farmer has been forced onto defense in recent weeks amid mounting controversies and negative headlines.

IT’S JUDGMENT DAY FOR EMBATTLED DEMOCRAT GRAHAM PLATNER

While Collins has mostly kept quiet about Platner’s political baggage, she has weighed in on his agenda.

Among his many progressive policy stances, Platner, on his campaign website, urges “passing a constitutional amendment to ban billionaires buying elections!”

And he highlights that he’s “a strong supporter of a Medicare for All system” and that he “will support a path to citizenship and an end to the mass deportation machine.”

Asked if Platner is too far to the left for voters in her northern New England state, Collins responded in a Fox News Digital interview last month, “I believe that will be the conclusion of Maine voters. But, obviously, I don’t take anything for granted.”

But Platner challenges that it’s Collins who is too “radical.”

“My response is that, trying to bring down costs for working Mainers. Trying to make sure that our communities don’t get emptied out because housing has become unaffordable for young people. Trying to create a system in which we are not seeing our health care system utilized as a way of just screwing working people all for the benefit of a health care insurance CEO,” Platner responded in a Fox News Digital interview last month.

“I don’t think that’s radical at all,” he added, claiming: “I think, in fact, that what most Mainers agree is what we have to be doing.”

Rather, he claimed that “what’s radical is somebody like Susan Collins, who, for decades now, has made sure that we pass policies that are going to help corporations and billionaires to the detriment of working people, supporting over and over and over again, illegal and insane foreign wars.”

“She voted to send me to Iraq, and now she continues to vote to support the war in Iran,” Platner charged. “I’m sorry that I think is much more radical to the people of Maine than having a health care system that doesn’t collapse before our eyes.”

PLATNER TO SUPPORTERS: ‘MAINE, YOU HAVE MY BACK’

Despite his numerous controversies, Platner has drawn large crowds and built a healthy fundraising war chest.

Democrats see Maine as a crucial pickup opportunity in the 2026 midterms as they aim to win back the Senate majority in the fall.

But beating Collins, a moderate who is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate and has a history of voting against President Donald Trump’s agenda, won’t be easy. Six years ago, public opinion polls indicated the senator was headed to defeat, but Collins defied expectations and won re-election by topping then-Democratic state House Speaker Sara Gideon by nine points.

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One week after President Donald Trump’s endorsement-winning streak in high-profile Republican primaries was snapped, the president’s immense clout over his party is facing another key test in South Carolina’s GOP gubernatorial nomination face-off.

A week and a half ago, the president handed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette 11th-hour support as she seeks to succeed a top Trump ally, term-limited Republican Gov. Henry McMaster.

Evette is facing off in the GOP primary against a handful of top rivals. They are longtime South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, and multimillionaire businessman Rom Reddy.

Since no candidate was expected to top 50% of the primary vote and land a majority, the top two finishers will advance to the June 23 Republican runoff.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past month, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas that grabbed plenty of national attention.

But Trump’s last-minute endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds — which came on the same day he also backed Evette — wasn’t enough to muscle the three-term congressman to victory.

Feenstra was narrowly edged out by Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist who was backed by the political wings of MAHA — the acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS LIVE UPDATES ON TUESDAY’S PRIMARIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY

In the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary, the major contenders had long been highlighting their support for Trump and his agenda in hopes of landing his support.

Trump, after staying neutral for months, endorsed Evette, praising her as an “America First Patriot” and a “WINNER” in his announcement.

The president also headlined a tele-rally for Evette on the eve of the primary.

Hours later, on the morning of the primary, Evette once again spotlighted the president’s backing of her campaign.

In a social media post, she wrote that Trump “needs a strong partner as Governor who will deliver on our conservative America First agenda. It’s why he gave me his ‘complete and total endorsement.’ Don’t let President Trump down. Get to the polls, bring your friends & family, and VOTE EVETTE!”

But Trump, in a social media post endorsing Evette, also said he expected Evette to choose Henry McMaster Jr., the governor’s son, as her running mate for lieutenant governor.

The comment by the president led to blowback in South Carolina political circles and speculation that McMaster, who succeeded then-Gov. Nikki Haley when she stepped down to serve as U.N. ambassador during Trump’s first term and who is in his 10th year as governor, was trying to give his son a political boost.

But McMaster denied any deal or pressure, and Evette has said she wouldn’t name any running mate until after the primary is over.

And on Friday, the younger McMaster took his name out of contention, saying it was “incredibly humbling” to be mentioned as a possible lieutenant governor candidate, but that “now is simply not the right time.”

Pointing to what he said was a smaller-than-expected bounce in the polls for Evette, longtime South Carolina political strategist Dave Wilson told Fox News Digital he thinks the Trump endorsement “backfired” because of the president’s push for the younger McMaster to join the Evette ticket.

“In South Carolina, we really don’t take it very well when Washington tries to tell us what to do,” Wilson emphasized.

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LEWISTON, ME – As Maine voters head to the polls Tuesday to nominate a Democratic Senate candidate, a Republican lawmaker in the state says that Maine voters should be most concerned with the policies of Graham Platner, even though his political baggage has received most of the attention. 

“His personal life is a mess, right?” Maine Republican State Representative Laurel Libby told Fox News Digital on Monday. “We understand that. We’ve seen scandal after scandal come out. But what I think is incredibly dangerous are the policies that he’s looking to advance.”

Libby, who represents Maine House District 90, which encompasses Minot and part of Auburn, said one of the policies she is most concerned about is Platner’s support of the progressive “Green New Deal,” sweeping legislation that would cost taxpayers tens of trillions of dollars and phase out fossil fuel production. 

“Taking the extreme green agenda to DC that has already made our cost of electricity skyrocket in our state under Democrat leadership for the last eight years,” Libby said. “If we see that implemented in D.C., and we see costs increase across the country, it won’t just be crushing Mainers, it will be crushing American families and workers across the board.”

SEE IT: MAINE VOTERS SOUND OFF ON PLATNER’S DIVISIVE CAMPAIGN AS CRUCIAL PRIMARY NEARS: ‘HE’S A DISGRACE’

Libby told Fox News Digital that it “doesn’t surprise me” Democrats are poised to nominate Platner, despite his laundry list of controversies that critics have seized on, because Maine has been led by the “same kind of extremism” for eight years as the party controls the governor’s mansion and legislature. 

“We have seen 32 new or increased taxes, we’ve seen all of our overall cost of living increase and so Graham Platner has sprung out of that and is looking to take those same policies to D.C., harming not just Mainers but folks across the country,” Libby said. “I think he’s tremendously dangerous, and we can’t have him in the Senate.”

As Platner continues to experience high poll numbers despite his controversial positions and statements, Libby explained that she believes most of the affordability issues that are concerning voters are because of policies at the state level, rather than federal.

PLATNER-BACKER RO KHANNA INSISTS THERE’S ‘NO EVIDENCE OF VIOLENCE’ IN NEWEST ALLEGATIONS

“I think the majority of Maine voters are in a place where they’re going, oh my gosh, the cost of living is killing us, it’s hard to do business in Maine. Our costs are going up, and so we need something,” Libby said. “Not understanding that it’s state policies that are making life so hard for us. And so they look for a savior, and they think, you know, some of them think, some of the more extreme Mainers think that they’ve found that in Graham Platner. Couldn’t be further from the truth.”

“All he’s gonna do is take these extreme policies that have already harmed us so tremendously here in Maine, increase electricity costs, increase the cost of living, increase our taxes, and take that to D.C., where then we’re gonna continue to see a burden increase on Mainers. I think Mainers would be well advised to stay far away from Graham Platner and his extreme policies, or else we’re going to see our costs continue to skyrocket here in Maine.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Platner campaign for comment.

Platner, widely believed to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for Senate, heads into a Tuesday night primary election where Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and former senior government official David Costello are on the ballot.

If victorious, Platner will square off against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November.

Libby, who is not seeking re-election in 2026, recently launched Lead Maine, a group she hopes will empower more Maine voters with the tools to vote for strong conservative leaders in the state.

“We’re looking to educate, engage, and empower Mainers to make the change that we want to see in our state,” Libby said. “That does not include electing extremists like Graham Platner to the Senate, but making sure that Mainers understand that it’s the government that’s closest to us that affects us the most.”

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Senate Republicans have struggled to move the ball on President Donald Trump’s voter ID and citizenship verification bill, but a late-night vote in the upper chamber breathed some life into an issue once thought dead. 

During the Senate’s marathon “vote-a-rama” to advance the GOP’s $70 billion immigration enforcement package, Republicans tried twice to attach the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act to the massive bill. 

They failed both times, with a cohort of Republicans joining Senate Democrats to stymie the effort, which was destined to fail either way given that the amendments from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, had to break through the filibuster. 

REPUBLICANS FAIL TO ATTACH SAVE AMERICA ACT TO PARTY-LINE FUNDING PACKAGE

Graham’s attempt was to attach the modified version of the SAVE America Act, which included several policy additions, like barring men in women’s sports, that Trump demanded months ago.

Four Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., voted against it. Their defections prevented the bill from even getting 50 votes, a prerequisite for success if Republicans were to launch a talking filibuster. 

But Lee’s attempt did hit 50 votes, with Collins flipping her vote to support the original version of the SAVE America Act. 

Lee cheered the moment on X shortly after as the vote-a-rama still raged and noted that, with Vice President JD Vance serving as a possible 51st vote, the SAVE America Act could pass.

WATCH: HAWLEY FUMES AFTER 4 GOP SENATORS HELP SINK TRUMP-BACKED VOTER ID LAW

“That means that but for the Zombie Filibuster, the House-passed SAVE America Act would now be on its way to the White House for President Trump’s signature,” Lee said. 

The moment was a big victory for the legislation, which thus far has wallowed in the Senate for months.

Conservatives like Lee have pushed Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to launch a talking filibuster to grind down Senate Democrats and pass the legislation at a simple majority threshold.

SEN LEE DARES DEMOCRATS TO REVIVE TALKING FILIBUSTER OVER SAVE ACT, SLAMMING CRITICISM AS ‘PARANOID FANTASY’

But Thune hasn’t pulled the trigger out of concern that Republicans wouldn’t stay together to bat down a deluge of Democratic amendments that could substantially change the legislation or target other elements of Trump’s agenda. 

Senate Republicans did launch a quasi-floor takeover to debate the SAVE America Act in March, but the steam behind that push has since fallen off substantially. 

The other option for Republicans would be to nuke the filibuster, something Trump has demanded they do sporadically throughout his second term.

Again, it’s an issue that Republicans aren’t unified on, and one that several fear could haunt them if and when Democrats regain control of the upper chamber. 

Trump has also shifted his ire to the Senate rules referee, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth Macdonough, who ruled that the SAVE America Act didn’t pass muster to be a part of the immigration package at a 50-vote threshold. He’s called on Thune to fire her a handful of times in recent months. 

“We have every right to change her, and should do so, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump said on Truth Social. “As long as she’s there, we will never get our desperately needed, SAVE AMERICA ACT, approved, and put into full force and effect!”

But, like the talking filibuster or outright nuking of the filibuster, it’s a move Thune isn’t in a hurry to make. 

“That’s not a new request, as you all know, and as is typically the case, the parliamentarian, the rulings break both ways,” Thune said. “And, you know, we lose a few, we win a few, but that’s been true when Democrats have been in the majority, too.”

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BANGOR, Maine — It’s judgment day for Graham Platner, the embattled Democratic Senate candidate in left-leaning Maine who is aiming to oust longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a crucial race that’s among a handful that will determine if the GOP holds its slim Senate majority in the midterm elections.

Platner, an oyster farmer and military combat veteran who is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and other top progressive champions, is facing a slew of controversies, which could make his expected Democratic primary victory in Maine much more interesting than originally expected.

Meanwhile, one week after President Donald Trump’s endorsement-winning streak in high-profile Republican primaries was snapped, the president’s immense clout over his party is facing another key test in South Carolina’s GOP gubernatorial nomination faceoff.

Those two ballot box showdowns will take top billing and grab plenty of national headlines as Maine and South Carolina, along with Nevada and North Dakota, hold primary elections on Tuesday.

PLATNER TO SUPPORTERS: ‘MAINE, YOU HAVE MY BACK’

Platner has been playing defense for the past month, amid mounting controversy. It includes inflammatory online comments made on Reddit, a well-publicized and now covered-up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, recent reports that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married and new allegations last week from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes. Platner has called the latest allegations of violence untrue.

The negative headlines have triggered some Democrats in the nation’s capital to question whether Platner was damaged goods. The candidate this past weekend thanked Maine voters for continuing to support him.

“When hurtful things I said on the internet a decade ago came out into the public, as I shared my personal journey through PTSD and darkness of recovery and accountability and growth, Maine had my back,” Platner said at a rally Friday not far from his hometown in Down East, Maine.

“Now, as every single piece of that past and journey gets dug up, litigated, and weaponized, you have my back. And when politically motivated, serious and false accusations are made against me. Maine, you have my back.”

SEE IT: MAINE VOTERS SOUND OFF ON PLATNER CONTROVERSIES

Platner, who has acknowledged his battle with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from his three tours of duty in the war in Iraq with the Marines and one tour with the Army National Guard in Afghanistan, apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after they made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign.

And Platner has said he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007 while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He added that he covered up the tattoo with a new design after learning last year that it resembled a Nazi symbol. But new allegations from an ex-girlfriend raise questions about Platner’s timeline regarding knowledge of the tattoo.

Rep. Ro Khanna, the progressive leader from California who organized Friday’s rally with Platner, was asked by Fox News Digital whether he’s concerned if the current allegations, and any potential future ones, could sink Platner’s campaign and hurt Democrats’ hopes of winning back the Senate.

“I’m more concerned about making it clear that we’re opposed to misogyny, those relationships were toxic and volatile, there’s no excuse for that,” Khanna said. “I talked to Graham, and he says he was at a very dark period, he had come back from two tours of duty in Iraq as an infantryman seeing violence and death. That doesn’t excuse it.”

SEE IT: DEM SENATORS DODGE ON BACKING PLATNER AS MAINE CANDIDATE’S SCANDAL CLOUDS FINAL DAYS BEFORE PRIMARY

But Khanna noted that Platner said “he really grew as a person when he came back to Maine, and he was an oyster farmer, and he found peace, and he is ashamed of that period. To me, that suggests someone taking accountability and improving their lives, and we need that redemption in this country. And I agree with a lot of his economic policies, that we should be taxing the billionaires, we should be focusing on the working class.”

Platner has been considered the all-but-certain Democratic nominee after two-term Gov. Janet Mills, who was backed by longtime Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Party establishment, dropped out of the race earlier this spring after significantly trailing Platner in fundraising and polling.

He’s facing two long-shot rivals for the nomination in Tuesday’s primary, but Mills’ name remains on the ballot, which she highlighted in a recent interview. A source in Mills’ wider political orbit confirmed to Fox News last week that the governor was receiving calls urging her to get back in the race amid Platner’s controversies. But there’s no active campaign effort on behalf of Mills.

Maine voters Fox News reporters spoke with ahead of the rally were divided on whether Platner’s controversies would impact their opinions of the candidate and whether the allegations would weaken his ability to defeat Collins.

Collins, returning to Maine on Friday after a busy week on Capitol Hill where she reached a milestone by casting her 10,000th consecutive vote in the Senate, was asked by reporters about the latest allegations facing Platner.

“The allegations in the latest story are troubling,” Collins responded. “And I believe that Graham Platner has a lot of questions to answer.”

THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY

Platner is facing plenty of incoming political fire from Republican groups. A super PAC aligned with Collins has been blasting Platner, running ads spotlighting his multiple controversies.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) charged that Platner is a “fraud.”

“He’s preaching about living a small but decent life growing up in Maine. The truth? Graham Platner is an elitist whose parents sent him to boarding school in Connecticut and bought him a house,” the NRSC wrote.

And the Republican National Committee (RNC) also targeted Platner.

“Graham Platner says his violent and erratic past is being “weaponized” against him. Platner said he would rape someone to show his dominance and “rape was about power,” the RNC research team wrote on X, pointing to the latest allegations against the candidate.

Despite the allegations and the incoming fire from the GOP, no Democratic politicians who have backed Platner have rescinded their endorsements.

“We need to unite and realize that the goal is defeating Susan Collins. And everyone from Schumer to Sanders is unified around that goal,” Khanna told Fox News Digital.

Platner has drawn large crowds and built a healthy fundraising war chest, and Democrats see Maine as a crucial pickup opportunity as they aim to win back the Senate majority.

But beating Collins, a moderate who is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate and has a history of voting against President Donald Trump’s agenda, won’t be easy. Six years ago, public opinion polls indicated the senator was headed to defeat, but Collins defied expectations and won re-election by topping then-Democratic state House Speaker Sara Gideon by nine points.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

There’s a crowded and competitive field of Democrats running for their party’s gubernatorial nomination in the race to succeed the term-limited Mills. On the Republican side, Bobby Charles — former federal investigator — leads eight other candidates, including Jonathan Bush, nephew of the late President George H.W. Bush.

Also in the spotlight, the Democratic primary in the state’s 2nd Congressional District, in the race to replace moderate Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, who announced last year that he would not seek re-election due to political polarization.

Republicans, who are aiming to hold their razor-thin majority in the House, view the mostly rural district which Trump carried in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections, as a top pickup opportunity. Former two-term Republican Gov. Paul LePage is uncontested for the GOP nomination.

In South Carolina, Trump’s endorsement is in the spotlight.

The president, a week and a half ago, handed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette 11th-hour support as she seeks to succeed a top Trump ally, term-limited Republican Gov. Henry McMaster.

Evette is facing off in the GOP primary against a handful of top rivals. They are longtime South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, nationally known Rep. Nancy Mace, Rep. Ralph Norman and multimillionaire businessman Rom Reddy.

Since no candidate was expected to top 50% of the primary vote and land a majority, the top two finishers will advance to the June 23 Republican runoff.

The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past month, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas that grabbed plenty of national attention.

But his last-minute endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa — which came on the same day he also backed Evette — in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds wasn’t enough to muscle the three-term congressman to victory.

Feenstra was narrowly edged by Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist who was backed by the political wings of MAHA — the acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk.

In the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary, the major contenders had long been highlighting their support for Trump and his agenda, in hopes of landing his support.

Trump, after staying neutral for months, endorsed Evette, praising her as an “America First Patriot” and a “WINNER” in his announcement.

After Trump backed Evette, Mace said that her very vocal push last year for the Justice Department to release the files related to its probe into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein contributed to the president’s backing of her rival.

“I know I put the likelihood of an endorsement on the line when I demanded transparency on the Epstein files,” the lawmaker wrote. “I demanded it because you deserved the truth — ALL OF IT,” Mace emphasized in a post on X.

Trump, in a social media post endorsing Evette, also said he expected Evette to choose Henry McMaster Jr., the governor’s son, as her running mate for lieutenant governor.

The comment by the president led to blowback in South Carolina political circles and speculation that McMaster, who succeeded then-Gov. Nikki Haley when she stepped down to serve as U.N. ambassador during Trump’s first term and who is in his 10th year as governor, was trying to give his son a political boost.

But McMaster denied any deal or pressure, and Evette has said she wouldn’t name any running mate until after the primary is over.

And on Friday, the younger McMaster took his name out of contention, saying it was “incredibly humbling” to be mentioned as a possible lieutenant governor candidate, but that “now is simply not the right time.”

The winner of the Republican gubernatorial nomination will be considered the clear favorite in November’s general election in South Carolina.

State Rep. Jermaine Johnson, trial attorney and 2010 gubernatorial candidate William Mullins McLeod Jr., and businessman Billy Webster, who served as chief of staff to then-Democratic Gov. Richard Riley, are running for their party’s nomination.

Longtime Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham is the clear favorite in the Republican Senate primary, but is facing a tougher-than-expected challenge from South Carolina businessman Mark Lynch in a race that has devolved into mudslinging.

In Nevada, incumbent Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo is expected to fend off a handful of primary challengers as he seeks re-election. On the Democratic side, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford is the clear favorite over Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill.

And in solidly red North Dakota, there is a competitive GOP house primary for the state’s at-large district.

Fox News Digital’s Alexis McAdams, Sally Persons, Jessica Sonkin and Luke Trevisan contributed to this report.

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Vice President JD Vance announced on Monday that he has referred allegations involving Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to the Justice Department’s fraud division for a potential criminal investigation over alleged fraud in federally funded social services programs.

Vance made the announcement during an appearance on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” when he was asked about a report released by the House Oversight Committee alleging that state officials, including Walz and Ellison, were warned of fraud in the state but did not take action to stop it in part because of litigation threats and concerns about being accused of discrimination.

“We’re certainly going to investigate this, Jesse, and I guess now I can make a bit of breaking news because I left the White House to come here to do this interview with you. And before I did, we actually referred this particular case to the Department of Justice for a full criminal investigation. We are not going to do what the Biden administration did and make judgments of the law before all the facts are in,” Vance said.

MINNESOTA FRAUD REPORT ACCUSES STATE AG OF ‘INCOMPETENCE, WILLFUL BLINDNESS OR WORSE’

“But here’s what’s particularly troubling about this to me is, Jesse, you had people within Governor Walz’s office who were saying, you know what? This looks like fraud. It looks like these Somalian illegal immigrants are doing something that’s very shady, and then you had people who shut them down, who shut these whistleblowers down and said, you know, you’re a racist or you’re a xenophobe for asking questions about where taxpayer money is going,” he continued.

“What that means to me, Jesse, is that clearly people weren’t taking fraud seriously. Whether it rises to the level of a criminal violation, we’re gonna investigate it, and of course, if it does rise to that level, we’re going to prosecute it. We have to,” Vance added.

MINNESOTA TAXPAYER DOLLARS FUNNELED TO AL-SHABAAB TERROR GROUP, REPORT ALLEGES

The vice president, who was tapped in February to lead the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud after President Donald Trump announced a “war on fraud” in his State of the Union address, later reiterated his comments on social media.

“Minnesota state officials are not above the law, and if they facilitated fraud, lied under oath about what they knew, or harassed and intimidated whistleblowers, they must face justice,” Vance wrote on X.

Vance and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz also previously said they were pausing federal Medicaid reimbursements to Minnesota, which Walz said at the time had “nothing to do with fraud” as he described the effort as a “campaign of retribution.”

“Trump is weaponizing the entirety of the federal government to punish blue states like Minnesota,” Walz said on Feb. 25.

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